Senegalese students benefit from Dubai Cares’ bilingual programme

The programme teaches pupils in their local languages as well as in French, the national language of Senegal.

Mauri Bicesse, 9, writes down the money needed to buy a cup of coffee as part of the schools’ bilingual programme. Naser Al Wasmi / The National

In Dakar, students are getting a good start in life thanks to educational funding from Dubai Cares. The Bilingual Programme teaches classes in both the official French tongue and local language Wolof.

DAKAR // Amy Diouf, a Senegalese teacher at an Associates in Research and Education for Development (Ared) programme, asks her class to stand up. She speaks to them in Wolof, the local language, for a moment before asking them to sit down and continue the class in French.

Teaching pupils in their local language as well as in French, Senegal’s official language, is the basis of the Bilingual Programme, newly-sponsored by Dubai Cares in the capital city of Dakar.

“Through this method, they are learning both,” says Ms Diouf, who teaches maths and French. “They are holding on to the language that their family and mothers’ speak while being prepared to go on in the future.”

The pupils in the Grade 3 class, about 30 of them, learn a lesson in the local language before repeating it in French.

“Repetition is good for memorisation and retention,” Ms Diouf says.

“Also, when you are repeating it in another language, then they learn the lesson twice.”

The programme spans Grades 1 to 4 but organisers say its success means it should expand to encompass more than the current 10,000 pupils.

“Dubai Cares has come at an important time,” says Mame Ndiaye, inspector of education for the programme. “Especially in a time when the programme needs help and is expanding.”

The Dubai Cares team is in Dakar to follow up on the programme that has been in use since 2009.

“Well this school, my mission was to go to Grade 1 and see how they are perceiving the programme,” says Tariq Al Gurg, chief executive of Dubai Cares.

“We were not expecting a lot of children to understand French but we were surprised; they picked it up.”

Mr Al Gurg and a small team were present in several classes funded by the programme.

“The barrier they had is being resolved in an accelerated way,” he says. “I also went to Grade 3. I told them that, ‘I heard the first grade is better than you in French’ and they said, ‘No way’.

“You can see they are all very eager to learn,” he says.

Awa Ka, who works as a training and publishing manager at Ared, says: “By learning both the languages they are able to better understand the responsibilities. It helps our children reading in French and understanding mathematics.”

Mauri Bicesse, a pupil at the school, says that he enjoys learning in French but retains more in his mother tongue.

“I enjoy maths, I especially learn better when it is repeated. Every day also I am getting better at French,” says Mauri, 9.

Besse Nguer, mother of Mauri’s classmate and a member of the school board, says the programme needs expansion and, with help, it is getting better.

“We still need more. We need a library and we need to teach them how to use libraries,” says Ms Nguer.

“But we are getting better. I can see it with my two sons and Dubai Cares and other sponsors help.

“Either way, though, now Senegal knows who Dubai is.”

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Read more on Dubai Cares’ work in Senegal here:

■ Dubai Cares to invest Dh4.9m into Senegal bilingual education programme

■ Senegalese students benefit from Dubai Cares bilingual programme expansion - in pictures